Category Archives: 3D

Extending their da Vinci range, XYZprinting have announced two new 3D printers at IFA this year, along with 3D project curriculum packs to help teachers and educators.

The first new model is in the mini series which is aimed at families and the home market. The da Vinci Color Mini is a fused filament fabrication (FFF) printer with an improved air fan for increased print quality and an auto load filament to ensure the filaments are loaded easily and correctly, which is great for family use. The autolevelling removable print bed helps objects stay straight, stick well for a good model and then be removed easily once printed. The internal volume is 13 x 13 x 13 cm which allows reasonably size models to be printed and the printer also features a 5 inch colour touch panel for user friendly and intuitive experience. List price is GB£1599, which isn’t cheap but is affordable for the keen and enthusiastic family. I imagine it would be good choice for smaller schools too.

The second model is the da Vinci AiO (All in One) and it’s decidedly more advanced. A bit bigger, with a 20 x 20 x 15 cm volume, the AiO is able to print in full-colour using colour texture inkjet printing 3D structure, which combines inkjet printing with FFF 3D printing. That’s great but in addition to full colour printing the AiO has a built in engraver and a 3D scanner. The press release doesn’t go into detail into how this works, or the limitations of the 3D scanner but it sounds like we’ve almost got a 3D copier here. That’s pretty cool. List price is GB£2699.

Finally, XYZprinting have a selection of 3D projects to support the STEAM curriculum. That’s STEAM as in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths rather than a popular software delivery platform. These packs help teachers engage with there students using 3D technology to effectively explore the topic areas. The packages will be divided into age brackets for ages 5-11, 11-14 and 14-18 and the content in each age category will be relevant across different subjects. Price to be confirmed.

With 3D printing, the colour of the substrate determines the colour of the model and as most 3D printers only hold one or two reels of material, it’s held back the visual appeal of the models. Anything detailed needs to be painted in post-production.

That’s all changing now as XYZprinting have announced the da Vinci Color 3D Printer which combines an inkjet and 3D printer, colouring the material as it goes. Because the colour is injected into the substrate, there’s no need to pause to change spools. The da Vinci Color uses fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing and can take advantage of 16 million of shades using its CMYK palette. The print bed is 20 cm x 20 cm x 15 cm in build volume and there’s complementary software to tweak models for colour.

The printer has 4 ink cartridges (20 ml) which are easily replaced by the owner with a recommended price of €65. A new PLA (a polyester for 3D printing) was exclusively developed for the new da Vinci Color. This 600 g transparent coil is also certified DEHP-free & heavy metal-free at a recommended price of €39.

The da Vinci Color will be available throughout the network of XYZprinting partner resellers at a recommended price of €3 599. It’s pricey for home use, but I think that’ll be snapped up by small businesses and education.

If you happen to be at IFA, call into their stand at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds, Hall 13 Booth 102, Messedamm, Berlin.

While 3D printers struggle to find a place in homes and offices, they’ve revolutionised the world of prototyping and the development of “one offs” within design and manufacturing. SE3D hope to push 3D printing into education and science, and Todd discusses the possibilities with Dr Mayasar Lim from SE£D.

SE3D’s printer differs from other devices through the substrate used for the models. Instead of plastic or metal, it uses organic materials to build the structure. By using plant or animal calls, the model can then be used within demonstrations, experiments and trials to show the response to, say, enzymes or therapeutic treatments.

Aimed at both education and laboratory markets, the basic printer unit is around US$4,000 and SE3D can provide a package for schools that includes curricular materials along with reagents and other materials.

Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com.

Their is a crazy deal for privacy violations in works that would allow the US/UK to collect their citizens data in each others countries being proposed by the administration. Sadly some companies are actually behind the initiative that has each governement looking to figure a way through legislation to make it happen. This is after a court ruling won by Microsoft last week that stopped the government from doing exactly that.

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Burning the candle on both ends here folks, things have been as crazy as ever. Believe me though it is a good thing. Today we roll back the time machine and Nintendo is about to introduce the Nintendo Mini and wow people are going crazy over the announcement. I have a stacked show today and am definitely over sharing. But the news has been do juicy that I have had to cut 10-15 articles per show.

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Pokemon Go Fever is sweeping the country every place I go people are playing the game and getting some serious exercise. If you play Ingress you know where all the Pokemon Go Gym’s are as they match the portals. Quite amazing and it is obvious that the Niantic folks have a winner on their hands with this one.

I am glad to be back in Hawaii and on the mic as always lot’s of irons on the fire. Two things to pay attention to, on the show is the GeekNews Facebook page and Facebook Instant Articles.

Stereo headphones have been around since the middle of the last century and 3D audio in headphones from the 1990s. Impressive as the spatial effect from 3D can be, the sound is still always relative to the listener as the headphones are on the wearer, whereas speakers position the sound relative to the room or other space.

Until now, that is. 3D Sound Labs new headphones keep sounds in their place, even as the wearer moves their head. Scott finds out more from Maxime Sabahec of 3D Sound Labs on how their headphones keep sounds still.

The 3D Sound One headphones use motion sensors to understand the position of the wearer relative to the sound stage. The embedded gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer send information back to the PC via Bluetooth which then adjusts the positions of the sound in real-time as the person moves. This realism increases the immersive experience and while it’s good for movies, it’s great for VR.